You’re only as good as your plan.
Tourism and hospitality are two of the world’s biggest industries, and that’s why having a solid social media strategy is crucial for success.
For good or bad, there’s no denying that social media has changed the way we live our lives, how we interact with other people and brands, and for those of us in the tourism and hospitality industry, the way people consume and make purchasing decisions.
While social media has provided consumers with more choice, it has also provided businesses with more marketing opportunities and avenues to reach out to new and existing clients.
If you’re still in the camp of believing that success within tourism and hospitality is all about excellent service and creating unforgettable experiences, think again. Yes, those are certainly still essential elements; however, nowadays, your social media strategy might just be the single-most-important reason why you inevitably succeed or fail.
Think about it. How can you provide excellent service and unforgettable experiences if you have no one to provide said service and experiences to?
Let’s take a look at a few of the things you should be considering in your social media strategy.
Manage reviews
We’ve put this first because it’s so important. Consumers trust word of mouth more than anything else when making a buying decision, and that’s the reason why community management and responding to customer reviews must be a crucial part of your social media strategy.
Whether it’s Facebook, Google or any other platform where guests can leave reviews, you need to make sure you’re responding to every review, good or bad. Not only does responding to reviews show potential guests that you care, responding professionally to the bad ones shows that you proactively go out of your way to improve your services.
Audience is key to tourism and hospitality
Who do you want your guest to be? What kinds of people would you like to attract in an ideal world?
With a few exceptions, everything that works on social media usually does so because it’s planned, well researched, and confidently executed. Knowing your audience is a significant first step in ensuring everything you do on social media has the best chance of succeeding, especially in tourism and hospitality.
Our friends over at SMPerth have an excellent guide to creating customer personas?
Embrace Reels and TikTok
Social media is all about trends, and right now, Instagram Reels and TikTok videos are currently the biggest things in the world on social media. Short-form video is incredibly engaging on social media.
Why not encourage your guest to share videos about their time with you? People already love creating content about their trips, so what do you have to lose?
Make yourself easy to research
Social media impacts tourism and hospitality in many ways, but research is almost certainly the most critical way social media has changed these industries.
Whether it’s past guests sharing their experiences with you in the form of a review, or simply people posting images to social media, the first place potential guest will head to learn more about you is your social media profiles.
Your social media profiles aren’t solely about answering customer queries and raking in like after like on your posts. Social media is about building trust for those in the tourism and hospitality industries.
With so many choices available to travellers and diners, you have to be doing everything you can to give people peace of mind before they even step through your doors. No one wants to spend their hard-earn moment on a disappointing holiday, meal, or experience.
